The 80/20 Principle

Joey Vitale practices trademark law in Chicago and got so busy he needed to hire overseas VAs from the Philippines. Then he started teaching other lawyers the benefits and methods of working with overseas VAs. Learn the best ways of hiring and working with remote VAs in law practice. And discover the "Holy Grail" metric for uncommon law firm success.   Show Notes GlobalVettedVAs.com (Joey's Skybre...

Business coach Melissa Shanahan discusses how she helped a small group of law firm owners build a dashboard for tracking key metrics in their practices (i.e., a "tracking portal"). She also showed them how to define the various roles for work done in the firm (now or in the future) through an "accountability chart." Show Notes Velocity Work (Melissa's website) Law Firm Owner (Melissa's podcast) Ma...

The legal profession is changing rapidly, and lawyers must adapt quickly. Discover the best way to work and thrive in the modern world. (hint: trial & error is the worst way).   Show Notes Click to download the list of Best Systems & Tools for Lawyers Subscribe to Substack newsletter: The 80/20 Principle General Resources The 80/20 Principle  (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered L...

Lawyers increasingly work remotely or in virtual environments. That means we need new ways of better organizing, communicating, and collaborating in this digital/virtual world. The first part of two that examines how to make this happen, so our practices run more smoothly. Show Notes Click here to download the PDF list of recommended tools (and other webinar resources) Subscribe to Substack newsle...

Lawyers increasingly work remotely or in virtual environments. That means we need new ways of better organizing, communicating, and collaborating in this digital/virtual world. The first part of two that examines how to make this happen, so our practices run more smoothly.   Show Notes Click here to download the PDF list of recommended tools (and other webinar resources) Subscribe to Substack news...

Last week's release of GPT-4 has stunned people because of its amazing new capabilities for interpreting requests, finding and synthesizing information, as well as writing coherent summaries. It even scored in the 90th percentile on a bar exam, which means it can handle legal information as well. In this episode you'll find out what GPT-4 is and how you should go about learning to leverage it in y...

If you can create an information product for potential clients to get a meaningful result, they will trust you more and possibly hire you later for full-scope work. Many lawyers are now productizing their legal services, and in this episode, we discuss why you should do this, the best way to start, and the small hurdles to surmount to make it happen in your practice. Show Notes The story of entrep...

Cybersecurity is essential in all fields, but especially in law firms, where there is so much sensitive information stored on computers. Learn how to protect yourself in this episode. Show Notes The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More with Less , by Richard Koch Richard Koch on Mastering the 80/20 Principle (Tim Ferriss's interview with Richard Koch) 80/20 Sales and Marketing: The Defini...

Chris Earley had no idea how to run any business when he graduated from law school in 2004. But he figured it out through a series of strategies and tactics, which you'll learn about in this episode. Show Notes Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success , book by Adam Grant Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time , by Keith Ferrari Erika Kullberg - Insta...

Managing a law practice doesn't have to be as hard as many lawyers make it. I've gotten some interesting questions about this topic, so in this episode, you'll learn more about how to make major improvements more easily.   Show Notes The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More with Less , by Richard Koch Richard Koch on Mastering the 80/20 Principle (Tim Ferriss' podcast interview with Richa...

The 80/20 rule can help practicing lawyers. Listen and learn how one family lawyer in Tennessee used it to become more profitable and much happier in his practice. Show Notes Click here to see Patrick's Standard Engagement Contract. Patrick Slaughter's Magic Law Practice (Episode 48) Business Coaching for Lawyers with Patrick Slaughter (Episode 54) What's Your Vision for Success? with Patrick Slau...

Many lawyers succumb to burnout or stress at various points in their careers. It's easy to assume that this is just something we have to accept. But the truth is, we don't have to endure stress or burnout if we understand the root causes and optimal solutions.   Show Notes How to Optimize Productivity (While Working Less) , Mark Manson (80/20 article mentioned in the episode) Notes on The 80/20 Pr...

Many lawyers who entered the practice of law in the 1980s ignored technology or dismissed its potential for making law more efficient and easier to practice. But not Monty McIntyre, a San Diego trial lawyer who adopted technology and remains open-minded and curious about leveraging it to improve his practice.   Show Notes Monty McIntyre's California Case Summaries ™ (podcast listeners can  click h...

In this episode, you'll meet Brian Payne, a solo attorney who practices law in Nashville, Tennessee. Brian was initially lured to Nashville because he's a songwriter. He was encouraged to go to law school by someone he admired, and that's how he wound up with a law degree. He has a solo practice focused on real estate law. And he's interested in improving his practice, which is how we met. Listen...

Artificial intelligence is gaining ground rapidly in many areas, including better note-taking by creating accurate transcripts and recordings at the same time. Tools like Otter.ai allow you to do this using any modern smartphone.  Every lawyer should at least try Otter.ai to understand the power of note-taking powered by artificial intelligence. In this episode I explain exactly why this possibili...

Tracking your firm's revenue and expense numbers gives you helpful insight into which areas of your practice are more profitable or which staff members or contractors are truly valuable. Melissa Shanahan, a top-notch business coach for solo and small firm attorneys, joins Ernie to discuss how best to track these metrics. Show Notes The Law Firm Owner Podcast (Melissa Shanahan's podcast) Velocity W...

To succeed in big ways today, it's best to think in multi-dimensional or multi-disciplinary ways. That has been the key to attorney-businessman Charlie Munger's success and many others. In this episode, we'll talk about what it looks like to do this and how you can start to do it as well. Show Notes The 80/20 Principle: The Secret of Achieving More with Less , by Richard Koch (about how to discove...

The power of 80/20 analysis can help lawyers achieve higher incomes and get better clients. But gathering and analyzing key data is essential (as it was for the Oakland Athletics baseball team, as depicted in the book/movie "Moneyball").   Two KPIs, in particular, are of paramount importance for lawyers with solo/small firm practices. Show Notes The Ultimate Question 2.0 , by Fred Reichheld & Rob...

The 80/20 principle is powerful and can help bring about a massive change in any business —including a lawyer's practice. But it's hard to wrap your head around this idea when you first come upon it. One natural reaction of lawyers is to think, "this is too good to be true." But the fact is that it's absolutely true and powerful, as I'll explain in this episode. General Resources The 80/20 Princip...

Marketing, when done effectively, is powerful. And the best approach is to communicate with people authentically, especially on platforms like LinkedIn.   Show Notes Read  This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See , by Seth Godin (the best book on marketing) General Resources The 80/20 Principle  (my email newsletter) The 5 Pillars of a Tech-Powered Law Practice The Inner Circle...

Many lawyers have misconceptions about marketing and then fail to leverage its power. Others try too hard to get attention and fail to earn the trust of prospective clients. Marketing, when done effectively, is powerful. And the best approach is to communicate with people in a natural, authentic manner. Show Notes I recommend reading  This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See , b...

It's vital to learn new ideas that help you run your law practice better, more efficiently, and more profitably. And there are many books that can help you do this, but reading them takes time. Unless you learn how to employ an 80/20 leverage tactic that I call "speed learning." It's very easy to do, and it will enable you to extract valuable information from books that you can easily act on to im...

If you don't know about the 80/20 Principle, you should. Understanding it is the easy part. Implementing it is where the work starts, and in this episode we'll talk about how to leverage the 80/20 principle to create extraordinary transformations in your practice.   Show Notes The 80/20 Principle: How to Achieve More with Less , by Richard Koch The Four Hour Workweek , by Tim Ferriss SaneBox (inte...

The happiest lawyers are those who spend more of their time thinking creatively and solving interesting high-level problems. They also get paid more than ones who are stuck doing low-level drudgery. So happiness in the practice of law is about more than just money, and I'll share some personal experiences about why that's true in this episode. Show Notes The Systems Workshop - the best way to crea...

In this episode I'll be sharing recent questions from lawyers posted in my Inner Circle community, along with the insights and perspectives offered in response.   It's important to remember that a lot of what you need to know about how to use technology and improve your practice is stored in the minds of other lawyers —not in online databases or social media posts. *wink*   Show Notes Shokz Bone C...